Iceland can cash in on the stakes it still owns in major British High St names after patiently holding on

Fashion stakes: High St names such as Oasis were among the brands owned by Icelandic group Baugur

Most British shoppers will be unaware that several of our best known high street chains are owned by the Icelandic government.

House of Fraser, Karen Millen, Oasis, Coast, Warehouse and Whistles all ended up in Icelandic ownership and were all caught up in the country’s banking collapse.

Central to the story was Baugur and its charismatic chief executive, Jon Asgeir Johannesson. Baugur first arrived on the scene in 2002, joining forces with Sir Philip Green in a bid for Arcadia Group, the owner of Topshop.

Baugur was forced to withdraw after corruption allegations in Iceland and Green went ahead with the Arcadia deal alone. But Baugur was soon to return.

By the end of 2003 it had acquired Hamleys, Oasis, and Julian Graves and it would soon own or control swathes of shares in dozens more retail brands, including frozen food group Iceland, House of Fraser, Goldsmiths the jewellery shop, Mappin & Webb, Moss Bros and Jane Norman.

But when the financial system collapsed in 2008 the tide began to retreat on the Baugur empire.

The mountains of debt that it had used for its spree began to crumble.